Essential oils for sleep: a natural remedy for insomnia

In this article, we will look at how to use essential oils to sleep better and to combat insomnia. Restful sleep is one of the most important factors for both mental and physical health. If sleep is insufficient or disturbed, it can cause serious damage: it increases the risk of suffering from stress, heart attack, stroke, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Some studies estimate that about one-third of the Italian population suffers from sleep disorders, which usually manifest as follows:

• difficulty falling asleep
• inability to sleep through the night
• frequent nighttime awakenings
• excessively early awakening in the morning
• daytime fatigue

There are many factors that lead to sleep disorders. Below are the most common ones:

• Mental stress, worries related to work, personal and relational difficulties
• Alterations in the "sleep-wake" rhythm due to shift work, jet lag, irregular working hours
• Family history of sleep disorders
• Age, as sleep disorders increase with age
• Pathologies such as anxiety and depression. Poor sleep quality is one of the causes of mental illness in general, particularly depression.
• Chronic and inflammatory diseases
• Taking particular medications: some medicines can have a stimulating or sedative effect and influence the sleep-wake cycle
• Heavy meals or consumption of alcohol before going to bed
• Intense sports activity practiced in the evening
• Environmental conditions such as lighting and temperature

Essential oils to combat insomnia

As we have seen, there are many factors related to the onset of insomnia. Depending on the condition that causes sleep disorders, there are specific essential oils that can help.

Essential oils do not only improve sleep through a sedative action, but they intervene on the causes that generate difficulty in sleeping thanks to their antidepressant, anxiolytic, relaxing, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, calming action on the heart and blood circulation.

Main essential oils for the treatment of insomnia:

• Lavender essential oil
• Mandarin essential oil
• Sweet Orange essential oil
• Bitter Orange essential oil
• Ylang Ylang essential oil
• Neroli essential oil
• Roman Chamomile essential oil
• Sandalwood essential oil
• Frankincense essential oil
• Bergamot essential oil
• Geranium essential oil

It is recommended to use one essential oil at a time, two at most, and continue for at least one week. In this way, the effectiveness of each one on our body can be better evaluated.

How to use them

The most studied action of essential oils on sleep primarily uses direct inhalation, which conveys the action of the essential oil to different areas of the brain through the olfactory pathways.

Below are the main uses of essential oils to promote sleep:

• Environmental diffusion for about 30 minutes
• Pillow or cotton ball soaked with a few drops of essential oil (3-5) and placed about 30 centimeters from the nose. Indicative exposure time from 5 to 20 minutes.
• Foot bath: 5-7 drops of essential oil mixed with a handful of coarse sea salt or delicate bath foam
• Foot massage: 5 drops of essential oil in nourishing cream or massage oil

Lavender essential oil for sleep

One of the most studied essential oils for its action on sleep is that extracted from Lavandula Officinalis, commonly known as Lavender.

The inhalation of Lavender essential oil exerts a potentiating action on GABA receptors at the cerebral level, the same ones that are stimulated by a class of powerful anxiolytic and sedative drugs, benzodiazepines.

This occurs through the activation of the nerve endings of the olfactory neurons found in the nasal mucosa and which reach the brain. GABA is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter with an inhibitory function in the central nervous system of mammals (neuronal activity is reduced and attenuated).

We can therefore simplify by saying that the molecules of Lavender essential oil, once inhaled, stimulate neurotransmitters that help the nervous system to relax, lower its defenses and fall asleep.

This action of Lavender essential oil is also exerted with the oral intake of appropriately dosed formulations for this use, in the form of capsules to be ingested. In general, however, the oral intake of essential oils is not recommended unless supervised by a doctor.

Ylang Ylang essential oil for sleep

Ylang Ylang essential oil (Cananga odorata) - when desired - provides very interesting benefits in terms of relaxation and sleep. Alpha 1 brain waves (8–9.9 Hz), present in deep relaxation, increase significantly during the inhalation of Ylang-ylang essential oil, producing a reduction in the state of vigilance.